As our first installment in the 'Cup Final Countdown' we look back to the early years of Glentoran in The Irish Cup concluding in our first Irish Cup win in 1914.
Glentoran first reached an Irish Cup final way back in 1896. Having beaten Moyola Park, 2nd Scots Guards (after a replay) and Derry North End we met Distillery at Solitude but unfortunately were on the wrong end of a 3-1 score line. In 1899 we reached the final again, this time against Linfield (Solitude). The Blues scored in the first minute and held the lead until 8 minutes from time when a Linfield defender appeared to punch the ball off the line. Nothing was given, the Glentoran team walked off in protest and the referee was forced to abandon the game. The IFA awarded the cup to Linfield.
Third time lucky? Not quite. Despite reaching the final in 1912-13 we again lost out to the old enemy; this time by two goals to nil at Celtic Park. A year later though, there would be a happier outcome. Distillery were our first opponents in 1914 and we played out a scoreless draw at Grosvenor Park. A 1-1 draw at the Oval followed and we made the short trip back across town for, you guessed it, another draw (1-1). Back to the Oval we came and played out a fourth draw; again 0-0. Finally at the fifth time of asking, Glentoran triumphed 2-1 with goals from Jack Boyd (who had also got both our goals in the previous games) and Sam Napier. The semi-final proved to be a bit of an epic too. Shelbourne were the opposition but this time it took just four games to settle it; Glentoran winning 2-0 in the third replay at Celtic Park. The result was another Final with our biggest rivals, Linfield.
Glentoran were due to play a Gold Cup tie on the Monday prior to the final but the Board of Directors, their hearts set on winning the Irish Cup, scratched from the competition and took the team to Newcastle (Co Down) for a week of relaxation and preparation. A crowd of over 20,000 packed Grosvenor Park for the final. Despite the Glens making the early running it was Linfield who took the lead through McEwan. Jimmy Lindsay brought us level before the interval and then in the second half Glentoran turned on the style. Paddy McCann’s free-kick was spilled by the Linfield keeper and Willie Lindsay was on hand to make it 2-1. Willie scored again and finally, after 32 seasons of trying, Glentoran finally brought the Irish Cup to East Belfast.
Irish Cup Winners 1914: Murphy; McCann, Annesley, Ferritt, Scraggs, Emerson, Lyner, J. Lindsay, Napier, Boyd & W. Lindsay.
Throughout the week, we will continue to recall Irish Cup Final memories in build-up for Saturday's big day.